In order to begin collaboration right away you are two meet with, research with and prepare an oral presentation with your assigned group. These presentations should provide an overview of the reservations and cultures we will be visiting. (For the Navajo research project, please include research on Little Singer School and the Southwest Dine High school.) You may find lots of information on the Internet. Since the classroom has Internet connection and digital capabilities you may use the projector. However, we do not want you to be showing website to the class. Rather we want you to research and select what you want to say about the places and communities. You may use the websites to gather images and ideas. This assignment is our first step towards working collaboratively and we want you to make the most of doing so. Everyone’s presentations combined will give the traveling group a nice introduction into potential experiences we will have. You should plan to keep your presentation within forty-five minutes in duration but we do want you to make it as informative as possible.

This assignment is an opportunity for you to think creatively about how to communicate you own story. As a way to introduce ourselves to each other we ask you to create a presentation on “the story of who you are”. This presentation can take any form; it may be visual, performative, written, etc. Be free to explore creative ways to tell your story.

In addition to the presentation itself we would like you to write a short narration that serves as an interpretive guide to the work. The story of who you are or “self portrait” should also express some of your identity markers. These may include, but are not limited to: class, gender, ethnicity, race, religion, education, community, age, language, geography; it may also display some of your aspirations, ideals, personality traits, and fears. On January 30 we will share these presentations with each other and reflect on what is revealed in them and also what may be concealed.